Panthera gombaszoegensis

Panthera gombaszoegensis, also known as the European jaguar, is a Panthera species that lived about 1.95−1.77 million years ago in Europe.[1] The first fossils were excavated in 1938 in Gombaszög, Slovakia.[2]

Panthera gombaszoegensis
Temporal range: Early to Middle Pleistocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Pantherinae
Genus: Panthera
Species:
†P. gombaszoegensis
Binomial name
†Panthera gombaszoegensis
Kretzoi, 1938
Synonyms
  • Panthera toscana Schaub, 1949
  • Panthera schreuderi Koenigswald, 1960
  • Jansofelis vaufreyi Bonifay, 1971

More of its fossil remains were excavated from the Olivola site in Italy, while finds elsewhere in Italy were initially named Panthera toscana.[3] Later fossils were found in England, Germany, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. Sometimes it is recognized as a subspecies of Panthera onca, the jaguar, as Panthera onca gombaszoegensis.[4]

Description

European jaguars were larger than modern-day jaguars found in South America,[5] such as Pantanal and Peruvian jaguars.[6] With a bodyweight between 70 and 210 kg (154 to 463 lbs), they were therefore probably capable of bringing down larger prey. A form similar to Panthera gombaszoegensis has been found dating from early Pleistocene East Africa and had both lion- and tiger-like characteristics.[5]

Taxonomy

Leo gombaszoegensis was the scientific name proposed by Miklós Kretzoi in 1938 for teeth found in Tertiary deposits in Gombaszög, Slovakia.[2] It was re-assessed and subordinated to the genus Panthera in 1971. The following are considered to belong to P. gombaszoegensis as well:[7][8][9]

  • Panthera onca toscana proposed in 1949 for carnassial teeth found in Villafranchian deposits in the Arno river valley in Italy.[10]
  • Felis (Panthera) schreuderi proposed in 1960 for cat fossils found in Tegelen, the Netherlands.[11]
  • Jansofelis vaufreyi proposed in 1971 for cat fossils found in southeastern France.[12]

Habitat and behavior

The European jaguar has often been thought to be a forest-dwelling cat, similar in habits to the modern jaguar, although recent work suggests that the association between the European jaguar and forested habitats is not as strong as has often been assumed.[13] It was probably a solitary animal.

See also

References
  1. Argant, A.; Argant, J. (2011). "The Panthera gombaszogensis story: the contribution of the Château Breccia (Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France)". Quaternaire (Hors-serie 4): 247–269.
  2. Kretzoi, M. (1938). "Die Raubtiere von Gombaszög nebst einer Übersicht der Gesamtfauna (Ein Beitrag zur Stratigraphie des Altquartärs)". Annales Musei Nationalis Hungarici. Budapest: Hungarian Natural History Museum. 31: 88–157.
  3. Turner, A.; Anton, M. (1997). The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives: An Illustrated Guide to Their Evolution and Natural History. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231102285.
  4. Hemmer, H.; Kahlke, R.-D. (2005). "Nachweis des Jaguars (Panthera onca gombaszoegensis) aus dem späten Unter- oder frühen Mittelpleistozän der Niederlande". Deinsea, Annual of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam: 47–57.
  5. Mol, D.; van Logchem, W.; de Vos, J. (2011). "New record of the European jaguar, Panthera onca gombaszoegensis (Kretzoi, 1938), from the Plio-Pleistocene of Langenboom (The Netherlands)". Cainozoic Research. 8 (1–2): 35–40. Retrieved 2015-09-28.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  6. Seymour, K.L. (1989). "Panthera onca" (PDF). Mammalian Species. 340 (340): 1–9. doi:10.2307/3504096. JSTOR 3504096. Retrieved 2015-09-04.
  7. Hemmer, H. (1971). "Zur Charakterisierung und stratigraphischen Bedeutung von Panthera gombaszoegensis (Kretzoi, 1938)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte. 12: 701–711.
  8. Hemmer, H. (1972). "Zur systematischen Stellung von "Jansofelis vaufreyi" BONIFAY, 1971, und "Felis lunellensis" BONIFAY, 1971, aus dem Pleistozän Südfrankreichs (Carnivora, Felidae)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte: 215–223.
  9. O'Regan, H.; Turner, A. (2004). "Biostratigraphic & palaeoecological implications of new fossil felid material from the Plio-Pleistocene site of Tegelen, the Netherlands". Palaeontology. 47 (5): 1181–1193. doi:10.1111/j.0031-0239.2004.00400.x.
  10. Schaub, S. (1949). "Révision de quelques Carnassiers villafranchiens du niveau des Etouaires (Montagne de Perrier, Puy-de-dôme)". Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae. 42 (2): 492–506.
  11. von Koenigswald, G. H. R. (1960). "Fossil cats from the Tegelen clay". Publicaties van Het Natuurhistorisch Genootschap in Limburg. 12: 19–27.
  12. Bonifay, M. F. (1971). Carnivores Quarternaires du Sud-Est de la France. Nouvelle série C. 31. Paris: Mémoires du Muséum National d´Histoire Naturelle. p. 377.
  13. O'Regan, H.J.; Turner, A. (2002). "Wilkinson. European Quaternary refugia: a factor in large carnivore extinction?" (PDF). Journal of Quaternary Science. 17 (8): 789–795. doi:10.1002/jqs.693. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-21. Retrieved 2006-07-02.



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